Valais village under rockfall fear

Chippis, VS (c) chippis.ch/vie-locale/tourisme/

A rockfall is threatening another village - but it won't be buried, but flooded.

A large rock fissure is opening up above Chippis, close to Sierre in canton Valais. Geologists worry that a major rockfall could dam the river flowing through the town leading to extensive flooding.

The fissure is a meter wide in some areas - and growing several millimeters everyday, It could trigger a collapse of half a million of cubic meters of rock. That could block the river. 

The village has 1,500 residents - authorities are already planning for an evacuation.

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